SAL Vitale might be sending his boyhood buddy of 50 years away for the rest of his life – but respect dies hard.

In the first day of cross examination, defense attorney David Breitbart was asking about the former CEO of the Bonanno family, Phil Rastelli. Vitale said that in his waning years, Rastelli didn’t even want the job. “He was weak and lazy,” Vitale said. Then, raising his voice, added, “He was never as strong as Joe Massino.”

But then Vitale said that sometimes it was a good idea, when facing the law, to fake weakness.

When arrested on a RICO bust, Vitale said he told the feds he was an alcoholic – he was facing a 45-month sentence. “I lied about being an alcoholic. I’m not an alcoholic. But if a judge hears you’re an alcoholic, chances are you’ll get a year off your sentence.”

It didn’t work. Vitale got the full stretch.

Earlier, Vitale, who turned informer after he was told he faced a federal death sentence, gave an anatomy of how his boss ordered a hit. “He went to Cancun and said, ‘See if you can get it done before I get back,’ ” Vitale said.

The target was a man known as “George from Canada,” the boss of the Montreal arm of the sprawling Bonanno empire. George was going to be taken for his last ride.

Vitale chose Anthony Urso as the hit man and gave him a silencer.

The whacker had a better idea – hit George in the cabin of a stationary truck in Manhattan to allay any of George’s suspicions.

The deed was done and the body dumped in a drug-infested area in The Bronx.

But Urso came to Vitale and said the truck had to be ditched because they couldn’t clean up the bloodstains on the front seat.

Massino, when told, showed deep concern, and said: “George must have bled to death.”

Of course, Massino ordered all his captains to attend George’s wake. Because respect dies hard.